Sports Talk, Straight Talk

Quite the vicegrip game for the Sharks as they clamped down on the Los Angeles Kings and won 5-1. It was the Sharks best performance and third win against the Kings this season. The two previous wins were 2-1 affairs.

San Jose has outscored their last three opponents 18-4 and have found their groove.

This has to be one of the best stretches the defense has played all year. They’re keeping their sticks on the ice, using good positioning and locking down opposing teams’ best players. That’s a recipe for success.

Jay Leach has really surprised me. He’s learned the system and playing great defensively; he’s also been seen pinching in the offensive zone. Even his partner Kent Huskins, who I enjoy ripping, is playing well. He was second on the team in ice time tonight with 20:23. Wow! Perhaps I underrated him? Hahaha, no.

Patrick Marleau started things off quickly with a power play goal just five minutes in. Power plays were the name of the game. The Sharks were 3-3 on the man advantage and held the Kings to no power play goals on five opportunities.

Patty would score another power play goal in the second period; it came just after a Kings shorthanded breakaway that goalie Evgeni Nabokov stopped. Nabby couldn’t find the magic for a shutout though, like usual. I tell you what — the Sharks are like me playing NHL 10. I always manage to allow at least one goal and never get shutouts. It’s the same story in real life. I wonder if Nabby is wondering if he’ll ever get one again. We’ll never know because he’ll just tell the media it’s about the win. Don’t just take that answer. He’s a prideful Russian.

Ryane Clowe scored two goals as well, making it his first two-goal game since Nov. 11, 2008. Guess who was on the ice and notched the primary assist. Manny Malhotra! OK, this is the one thing I was definitely wrong about. Manny is an amazing catalyst right now especially, but he’s provided so much to the team. Every line he ends up on scores. Joe Thornton, Jr. anyone?

Maybe my favorite part of the night was the third period. Again the Sharks kept their teeth on the jugular. Dan Boyle attempted to fight Dustin Brown, but the refs wouldn’t allow it. This star player protection needs to stop. Let these guys fight. The biggest excuse is “but we don’t want them to get hurt.” I rarely ever see players get hurt in fights. Injuries happen much more after bonecrushing hits or cheap elbows.

That wraps up the season series with L.A. thankfully. The Sharks finally solved them. It only took four months to do so.

Other Notes

Hit-O-Meter: SJ 18 LA 28; Scott Nichol led with four.

The Sharks look to continue their Sherman-like march on Thursday when Anaheim travels to San Jose.

Quite the incredible performance by the Sharks in their 5-4 overtime loss to the Los Angeles Kings. I use the word incredible as the literal meaning, i.e. you can’t believe it, not credible.

Same old, same old. A lot of flash, lousy execution. Man this is getting annoying playing down to inferior teams. It’s the Sharks third straight loss, and fourth loss in seven games. It’s officially a slump.

The Sharks are No. 1 in the NHL on faceoffs, while the Kings are No. 20. Somehow the Sharks found a way to lose most of the faceoffs. The final tally was 52%-48% Kings. This is what made the Sharks lose. It seemed like they lost every offensive zone draw and they had to have lost a majority of faceoffs while on the power play.

Everyone with a quality "WTF" look (From NHL.com)

Speaking of, the extra work on the power play during the layoff didn’t help. Sure they scored on PP goal, but once again they tried to be too fancy. I can think of one specific example: During a 4-on-3, a few Sharks were parked one foot from the crease. Instead of shooting, they just stood there with imaginary cement around their skates and would not shoot.

They need to revert back to last year’s philosophy of shooting everything from everywhere for the power play. This is ridiculous.

Accompanying the worthless power play was taking dumb penalties. The Sharks were asking to be scored on and they were. Two of LA’s goals were on the man advantage. I guess with all that work on the power play, the Sharks forgot about penalty killing, which they were No. 1 in the NHL.

The overtime goal was a great way to cap off the game; Dustin Brown, who had been slumping, used a spin and a weak shot to beat goalie Evgeni Nabokov. And yes, the puck went five-hole.

One good note was Ryane Clowe, who finished with two assists and a +1 rating. He now holds a 10-game point streak.

I really don’t think the Sharks can do much else to get out of this slump. It’s just one of those times of the year where nothing is going right. They’ll pull out of it eventually, but this isn’t a good time of the year to have one. Seven out of the next nine our division games, so something better happen soon.

Behind the Scenes

My name is Ray, and this is my Sharks blog. I’ve branched off from doing all sports to focusing on the Sharks this year. I give you the perspective of a fan with emotion and honesty; I also try and use a professional setup for consistency. There’s a small possibility I may post a blog on one of my other teams, or re-post an article I write elsewhere. So, sit back and just be a fan of the game.

I’d also like to reach out to Sharks fans, hockey fans or anyone else. Please leave a comment and let me know what you thought of a post or any input you’d like to add. It’s encouraging to receive any feedback or know people got something out of it. So tell your friends, post my URL on your facebook status, whatever. You can also link your blog by using comments, too. Help build a community!